Welcome to the Future
by Evee.Green
Summary: Like those in Japan, The Girl was put into cryogenic sleep to wait out the aftermath of the meteorite if the governments of the world failed to stop it from hitting the earth. It was U.S. government code name Plan Z. But when she wakes, she discovers that the pods of everyone else put to sleep with her got crushed by a landslide. She is the only survivor.
1. When Plan Z Fails

Chapter 1

*Note: This fanfiction contains many original characters. If you don't prefer to read that type of fan fiction, feel free to try out any of the other stories in the 7 Seeds section. Either way, I hope you enjoy your reading. :D

The first independent breath that the girl took after she woke up was stiff, painful. She drank in some air, choked, and started to cough; leaning over the side of the coffin she was in.

The water beneath her was sticky with age, and even the little taste of air that she got between chokes reminded her of her grandmother, old but unrotted. A minute later, she coughed up a mouthful of black and spat it on the ground. The coughing subsided, and finally she managed to take in a clear breath.

She looked around herself. Above her head, the sun shone brightly against a purple blue sky. The sun was framed by the top of a hole. She was underground she realized. Thick vines crawled at the edges of the hole and down into the room where she sat. Looking down at herself, she realized she wasn't actually in a coffin. It was a human sized capsule. A cryotube. The word came to her suddenly and without warning. She was in a cryotube because the scientists said an asteroid was going to hit the earth and they were all going to die. The knowledge ticked into her head second by second in pieces. Cryotube? Why would they stick her in a cryotube?

Because cryogenics was plan Z. If everything else failed. If everyone else died.

The girl turned and started to cough savagely over the edge of her tube, spitting out another mouthful of black substance. She felt queezy. What was the stuff? She started to sit back up when she saw it. The rubble.

Plan Z included putting groups of 10 people in cryosleep and letting the cryogenics system wake them when the atmosphere was clear again. That was how it was supposed have happened. As the girl recognized the corner of metal sticking out from the rubble that stopped a few feet away from her as another capsule, she started to feel sick. They had been crushed. All the other capsules had been crushed underneath the rubble.

The sun had set before the girl managed to lift herself outside of the capsule. Every moment hurt, and as she had forced herself to stand, she had gotten an odd thought. Maybe this was how babies felt. All in pain and scared. No wonder babies always screamed. Just like them, she had been reborn.

She shouldn't have bothered.

In the end, she hadn't been able to stand up or walk. She had slid over the edge of the capsule and had rolled onto the ground. She lay there, panting on the ground. It was then that it occurred to her that she was clothed. Shouldn't she been naked? Taking a moment to look at herself the girl saw that she wore a heavy-duty cargo pants made out of Cordura fabric, and a black cotton t-shirt.

She stared at her hands. They were wrinkled and pale, like the color of a corpse. She shivered, putting her hands back down at her sides.  
Eventually clothing deteriorated, just like everything else. Which meant that maybe…just maybe it hadn't been that long since she'd gone to sleep. Maybe it had only been a few years. Maybe the asteroid hadn't even hit. But that would mean that she and the other nine had been forgotten.

Anger, like an injection, flooded her veins. They were dead. Dead. If what they had done, what they had sacrificed for this had been for nothing…The girl's brow wrinkled. Sacrificed? She'd sacrificed a lot, but she couldn't remember what it was. What was it again? The girl looked down at her hands again. Name? What was her name?

She looked up at the sky. Who was she? She'd been picked for Plan Z, but she couldn't remember why. Other than the mission—she couldn't remember anything at all.  
The girl sat up quickly, her body obeying in a sudden memory muscle impulse. She gasped as her lower back and arms cried out at her. For a moment, she just sat there, hunched over, trying to endure the pain.

The girl looked at the hill of rubble that led to the top of the hole. She needed to get outside. She looked around her, trying find something, anything to help her rise and crawl out of this mass grave.

A dirt eaten, almost unrecognizable sign caught her eyes when she looked at the remaining wall that was intact. Looking closer she realized it wasn't a sign. It was a map of the United States. Peering at it she saw now that is was preserved behind a pane of plastic.

An urgent feeling she didn't understand filled her. She needed that map. It was important. She just couldn't remember why.

The girl leaned forward and managed to get on her hands and knees. The sensation of her skin pressing against the ground brought tears to her eyes as the feeling of a thousand firecrackers raced through her deadened skin.

One hand moved, then a knee. She was a little closer. The case was about five feet away. Hand, knee, hand knee.

When she reached the side of the building where the case was bolted to the wall, she leaned against it, and allowed herself to whimper for a moment. She gripped her elbows and closed her eyes, taking a five-minute break.

When she was ready, she leaned against the wall and started to rise.

Her legs shook as if she was about to fall, but she doggedly continued to claw her way up the wall. Her hand brushed the edge of the case and she felt around for a clasp.

Nothing.

Damn.

The girl wanted to cry. She'd have to find something to break it now.

That's when her hand brushed a long metal object that she hadn't noticed before. It was a hammer that hung from a hook on the side of the case, just like for a fire extinguisher. The girl knew what to do. Clasping the metal in her hand, she drew her hand back and smashed at the hardened plastic.

The old brittle plastic gave up instantly. Instead of shattering, which would have made a very satisfying sound, it crumbled and she ended up poking a hole through the case. The way it came apart reminded her more of a fungus infested nail crumbling than of plastic snapping. It was old.

The girl set aside the pill of fear that this thought imbued in her, instead she worked on tearing apart the remaining bits of plastic from the edges of the case with the hammer. When the edges were mostly clear she dropped the hammer and carefully pinched the edges of the map and pulled the fragile parchment from the case.

With a great sigh of relief, she slid back down the wall until she sat in a fairly comfortable position on the ground. Without the plastic in the way, she now saw that the map was speckled with large red dots…and a few small green ones.

Looking at the map another detail came back to her. Michigan. She was from Michigan. She was still…in Michigan? She peered at the state at the top of the map. There were two dots in it, one red and one green.

The girl traced Michigan's hand-like shape and touched the center of the wrist where the red dot was. Then she touched the green dot, where the second knuckle from the left would be if it were a real hand. Grand Rapids.

What did the dots mean?

Touching her head, the girl searched into the echoing emptiness of her mind. She couldn't remember. After a light headache started at the edges of her brain, she stopped and closed her eyes. It didn't matter. The asteroid hadn't struck. It could have struck. There were people out there, and soon she could find them and get some help.

She almost crumpled the map in her hands, but something mocking and fearful inside her made her stop.

In the time it had taken her to crawl to and retrieve the map, the sun had risen to the top of the sky. Its warmth allowed new energy to seep into her from her skin, and finally she felt dry from the waters of the cryotube.

With shakiness that drove her slightly mad, she opened one of the compartments of her cargo pants and slid the rolled up map inside. She started to get on her knees when she glanced to the side, and saw the hammer she had used before. That would be useful somehow. She grabbed the hammer and stuck it head first in her large waist pocket. Then, on her hands and knees, she crawled towards the mountain of rubble.

A disgusted shiver went up her spine as she used the edge of the other capsule that had been jutting out to lift herself onto the pile of dirt. She reached out and touched a boulder farther up the hill lightly. If she put too much pressure on the mound, it would roll. She looked up and realized the hill was riddled with boulders. At the top a jagged piece of metal, which she assumed had once been a part of the ceiling, was jutting out of the dirt down towards her like strange teeth at the opening of the mouth of the hole. She would have to get over that too.

Pulling out the hammer again, she buried the back of the head into the dirt and used her other hand to dig into the dirt while she crawled carefully upward.

A tendril of dirt scurried down the mound past her.

She bit her lip and continued to crawl. Slowly she got higher and higher up the mound. Tendril after tendril of dirt skittered down the mound behind her. The girl stuck the hammer back into the dirt again and moved her knee forwards.

Her knee slipped and suddenly she was on her belly. She groaned as a hard rock jutted into her stomach.

Gripping her hammer hard, she lay there for another moment. Then she got back onto her knees and continued to crawl.

Three-fourths of the way up she realized how high she was. Looking down she figured that she was about fifteen feet up the mound, ten feet up in the air. A few more feet and she would be at the jagged metal at the top of the hill.

To get over that she would have to stand.

Her arms and legs were now shaky and she could feel the sweat dripping beneath her shirt and under her armpits.

Finally, she reached the area beneath the jagged metal. It stood straight out from the dirt, vertical to the ground's horizontal. The metal was twisted, and to the girl it looked like it had been torn apart. What could have punched a hole through a metal ceiling?

Just guessing from the ground, she figured that if she were standing the metal would go up to her upper thighs. It was also sharp enough that it would definitely make her bleed if she touched it with her bare hands.

The girl looked from the metal wall to her own hands. She held a hammer.

Right now, she figured the best way she could do this was to roll over as fast as she could. If she only let her legs touch the metal edge as she crossed, then the Cordura fabric would protect her.

Lifting her hammer, she hooked it on the edge of the metal and pulled on it, using it as a prop to stand up. For a moment, she thought the hammer would slip through her sweaty fingers, but then she was standing.

Now all she had to do was lift her foot over the wall and she would be able to roll over. Her whole body shaking, she leaned on the hammer and started to lift her leg. The edge of her boot rested on the top of the twisted metal, and for a moment, the metal took most of her weight.

She could do this. The girl smiled. She was almost there. She took a deep breath, starting to lean forward so she could roll over the metal. Then her grip on the hammer slipped.

Her hand slid forward and wildly she grasped for anything to catch her. She caught the piece of metal and a fiery line of pain went down the center of her hand and down her arm. She rolled.

Her head slammed against the other side of the metal as she fell forward. Her vision went blurry for a few moments and in the next, she realized that she was screaming. Forcefully, she clamped her mouth shut, tears coming to her eyes.

Tearing off her shirt, she twisted the cloth around her arm tightly, and used the arms to knot it there. Then, with that finished she closed her eyes again, her hands touching her elbows.

She didn't even care that her face was in the dirt.

It hurt. It hurt. It-hurt-it-hurt-it-hurt. What if it got infected? At least she needed to find some water and wash it off.

The girl groaned, opening her eyes and sitting up. Finally she would get to see what the top of the hill looked like. She took a deep breath and raised her head to look around. Sitting up, she realized that she was kneeling on the vines she had seen before, and in front of her she saw a forest dense with moss and strange lavender colored grass. Lavendar? She almost reached out to touch a blade, but then stopped. This was Michigan, there were all sorts of plant life, just because she didn't recognize it didn't mean that it wasn't normal.

Looking to her right, she saw that a little wall jutted out of the ground to her right. A wall? The girl smiled, no, it had to be a sign. It was just too odd. Crawling to it, she used the hammer to start scraping off moss. Faded blue words started to become readable. WELCOME TO MACKINAC ISLAND. The girl frowned, Mackinac island? Mackinac island was in lake Huron, next to Canada, which meant that Canada would be in front of her, and…she turned around.

When she saw it, she couldn't quite believe she had missed it before. Behind her, instead of the freshwaters of Lake Huron, or even luscious tropical growth, what she saw was a desert of dust and sand that stretched on as far as she could see.

Lake Huron was gone.


	2. Nut-Moss and a Lighter

Chapter 2

That night the girl slept under a tree a few feet away from the pit she had crawled from. Upon seeing the desert she'd been consumed with an exhaustion she couldn't ignore. It had taken all her remaining energy and control of the pain that was running in slow waves through her arm to simply crawl underneath the nearest tree, curl up, and fall into a deadened sleep.

She woke the next morning to a strange sound. It was a grinding sort of a croak that suddenly sounded next to her ear.

The girl sat up abruptly, startling another offended growl-croak from the creature that had been sitting by her head. A pair of crystal blue eyes stared at her from a flat blue face. It was a frog. A large horn jutted from between and below its eyes, and a smaller one was directly in between its eyes.

The girl watched it hesitantly. A horned frog? What the heck did a frog need with a pair of horns? Then the thought ran through her head. Maybe it was a new type of animal, one that hadn't existed before. Suddenly, the frog lunged forward, slamming into her arm.

The girl felt the blood drain from her face as she groaned and scrambled backwards. Pain as poignant as poison raced up and down her arm, and her arm shook as she clutched at it. It hurt! It hurt so much. Tears ached at the edges of her eyes as she tried to shove another grown back down her throat. The frog growl-croaked as her again, and lunged. No! Why wouldn't it stop attacking her! A new frighteningly powerful energy surged through her and suddenly she was on her feet and running past it towards the desert.

She tripped.

The girl gasped, and her vision went partially black as she landed on her injured arm. For a moment all the girl could do was lay there and tremble. Her temperature rose, and she realized her skin was no covered in sand. In fact, it burned. Rising back onto her knees, she turned and looked back at the forest. The horned monster was no longer chasing her. Instead it hopped steadily farther into the undergrowth.

An irrational thought popped into her head. The frog was the only living thing she'd seen since she'd woken up. If it was gone, she would be alone. Shaking, she managed to rise to her feet and stumble forward. This time she managed to reach her tree again before her knees buckled.

The frog was nearly out of view now, and a dry almost animal sound left her throat. She realized she was crying. Immediately she stopped, gripping the soft brown moss that covered the tree.

Just because it was horned, didn't mean it wasn't normal. The sign could be a hoax. There's no way an asteroid could wipe out humanity. Just because the frog was gone, it didn't mean that she was alone. It didn't mean she was alone. Her eyes strayed to the lavender grass beneath her feet and then to the pale blue purple sky. Finally she turned and looked back at the wasteland of sand.

Who was she kidding?

Everyone else was dead.

Weary with this knowledge, the girl rose to her feet again and shuffled along to the next tree. In the distance she heard a growl-croak, and she paused turning herself a little more to the right to follow where the sound had come from. Letting go of her tree she shuffled forward some more.

The sun had risen to the peak of the sky when she reached water. Whether it was some deep hidden instinct, or unconsciously she realized that frogs needed water, it was following the horned frog that had saved her life. When she reached the stream she was nearly delirious from the pain that ate at her arm.

Her vision was blurred, and as she saw the stream her knees collapsed again. She had to crawl the last few feet before she touched the water. Keeping her arm wrapped up in her shirt she lowered it into the water slowly, hissing as the cold water stung. As the cold started to number her hand the girl sighed. Her eyes drifted slowly closed again.

The girl gasped as she woke up. Immediately she started shivering. The sun was gone, and her arm had grown icy cold underneath the water. When she pulled her hand out of the water it was numb. Breathing hard, she put her injured hand under her armpit. Fire. Her body cried out. She needed to get warm.

Holding her hand there, she started to paw at the ground for small twigs. They were soft and covered in brown moss, just like the trees were. As the girl tried to stand again, her vision swamp and she swayed. It was then that she realized that she was also hungry. Ravenously hungry.

The girl shook her head, trying to clear it. She couldn't think about that right now. As she leaned against a tree she realized that she'd been doing that all day. She laughed at herself for a moment. What was she going to do when she didn't have any trees to lean against anymore? Just fall over in the nice itchy sand.

Moving back from the stream she cleared away a little section of ground. Searching the banks of the river, she found mid-sized rocks and formed them in a circle on the cleared ground. Then she placed the twigs in a small teepee.

As she finished, she sat back on her heels. Now all she had to do was light it. She looked at her hands, and the slight shakes that ran through them as she continued to shiver. Light it? She had no way to light it.

She clenched her hands. This was so stupid. After all that happened, she was going to die here in the jungle because she accidentally fell asleep by the river. She had to find a way to light it in the dark. She had to light it.

Fumbling, she patted at her pockets. Did she have anything? Flint, anything? In the next moment her hand touched something small, plastic and square-shaped in her pocket.

No. It couldn't be.

The girl pulled it out of her pocket and examined it dimly in the darkness. Then she pressed her finger against the top edge and ran it down the side. The lighter hissed to life, and a small warm light warmed her face. The girl's lips formed a soft round oh.

A few minutes later the kindling was lit and as it grew stronger she added a few tree limbs she had chopped down with the axe she had retrieved from the hillside of the pit.

As the fire grew stronger, her shivering subsided and she allowed herself to relax as she watched the stream over the firelight. Her stomach growled.

As she had built the fire, she had taken a few moment to drink as much water as she could bare. Now though, she had to find food. The girl glanced at a remaining tree branch next to her. They said that it was possible to eat moss.

Taking the axe, the girl started to scrape a little of the brown moss off the branch. She lifted it to her nose and took a light sniff.

It smelled spongy.

And…slightly like an almond. It almost reminded her of almond extract. After a moment, she stuck her tongue out and touched the moss with the tip. It was slimy. The girl sighed; it wasn't very appetizing despite the almond smell.

She popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly, savoring the taste for anything bitter that might indicate it was poisonous. To her surprise, the moss tasted rich and slightly nutty. It slid down her tongue far too quickly. It was like peanut butter cotton candy, but more solid, and it tasted more like almonds than peanuts, but it wasn't exactly an almond flavor either. It was just almondy. The girl's head spun a happy spin, as she tried to pinpoint exactly what the moss reminded her of.

Taking another piece of what she had just decided to call nut-moss she pinched it between her fingers. A bit of water dripped from between her thumb and forefinger. This could be very useful in the future. The girl popped the bit of fuzz into her mouth, her shriveled stomach encouraging her on.

She took her axe and started scraping off moss until she had collected a handful-sized mound of moss. Taking a mouthful-sized mound, she fit as much in her mouth as she could.

Crunch.

The girl felt the blood drain from her face as she felt something squirm in her mouth and go still.

A sudden stubbornness kept her mouth shut. Her lip trembled a little and she fought the gag reflex that rose from deep in her throat. Protein. She started to gag, and then slapped a hand across her mouth to stop herself. Protein. She needed protein. Her own words to herself sounded strained and ridiculous, but she ignored those thoughts, because if nothing else, she was alive, which was something a lot of other people weren't. She had to make sure to stay that way.

Quickly, she chewed and swallowed. Something spiny scraped against her tongue as it went down.

A large shudder ran through her and she walked back to the stream. Kneeling, she brought up several handfuls of water to her mouth. After she finished clearing her mouth of the bug's sensation she rose, feeling queasy. On her hands and knees, she crawled back to her small fire.

Sitting in front of the fire with her back to a tree, the girl looked ruefully at the mound of moss that was left. It seemed that she was done for the night.

Her stomach filled at least a little, the girl looked to her arm. The shirt was soaked and grimy. She grimaced, she would need to take it off, but she had nothing to replace it with.

Slowly she undid her knot and started to peel off the cloth. She hissed as it stuck to the fragile skin and little drops of blood ran down her arm. A few more seconds of pain and it came all the way off.

She inspected the wound, which had started to heal. The cut ran from the dip in her palm, next to her thumb, down the center of her hand and down half her forearm, running to the left. The wound gaped at her, like some rabid animal drooling spittle.

If this got infected, she would die.

The words went through her body like a shockwave, and a memory flashed before her eyes.

"Take this with every meal for the next week, okay? So, three a day. It'll fight the infection and you'll be better in no time."

A chubby woman in a doctor's smock stood before her, holding a clipboard. The girl sat on one of those plastic beds they have in family clinics. The doctor handed her a piece of paper with a prescription on it and the girl nodded, fingering the edge of the paper. The chubby woman smiled at her.

"So how is Eric doing? I heard from your mother that he got a job with NASA recently. You must be so excited for him."

Smiling quietly, the girl spoke, "He is excited. He's wanted this for a long time." The girl fingered the paper between her pointer and thumb. "We're both still surprised he's managed to get this good a job with him being so young though…"

As quickly as the memory had come, it ended, and the girl blinked. The memory seemed almost dream-like. It was so surreal and different from the forest around her. Eric? Who was Eric? She couldn't remember, but thinking about how she felt in the memory, he must have been someone important to her. Her brother? Her boyfriend? No matter how hard she thought, she just couldn't remember.

The girl looked back at the wound on her arm. Now that she could look closer, she noticed that the edges had started to swell slightly. This needed antibiotics, something.

After a moment her eyes flashed down to the moss. A thread of information ran into her head. Sphagnum moss was used in World War I as wound dressing. Usually it was dried. But she didn't have that much time. And this definitely wasn't Sphagnum moss.

Staring at the moss, she decided. She really didn't have many other options. She would have to sterilize it first. The girl grimaced. Actually, she should have done that when she first ate the stuff. She covered her mouth, feeling queasy again.

After another moment, it passed though. Raising her head, she looked around. She would need something to put it in to sterilize it. She couldn't make it too complicated because she didn't have energy. She glances at the pile of wood she had chopped recently. None of the branches she had chopped were big enough to make a bowl out of, but if she got a bigger branch then maybe it would work.

But the fact was that she just didn't have the energy.

The girl leaned back against the tree, staring at the angry, groaning wound. At this point, the best she could do was wash it in the stream and dry it next to the fire. Wrapping the wet shirt around her arm one more time, with more than a little disgust, she crawled back to the stream with the moss cupped gently in her wounded hand. Once there, she scrubbed hard with her left hand and brought the pile back to her fire.

She fell asleep again before it dried.

Something was burning. It smelled like burned cookies. Eric must have been trying to make some and forgot about the timer again. Dang. Now the house would smell like burned cookies for the rest of the day. Wait, cookies? Eric didn't make cookies.

Awareness shot through the girl, and she sat up with a muffled cry. The moss, which she had placed on a rock near the fire, was starting to flicker with light. Wild with panic, the girl yanked her stiff damp shirt off her arm and patted at the moss with it. She frowned. It was still flickering. That's when she realized the light was coming from the rising sun in the distance. Leaning forward she smelled the moss. It did smell like almond cookies. Touching it, she found it soft and dry, even hot to the touch.

Sighing with relief, she removed the rock from beside the fire with her wet shirt. Looking from the dried moss to her arm, she realized that she would need something to secure the moss to her arm.

She looked at the wet shirt. Well. She didn't need sleeves.

Taking her axe, she carefully pressed the corner against the shoulder of her shirt and started to tear at it. Then she repeated this with the other side. Tearing the sleeves into long strips, she set them on the rock next to the fire.

While she waited she crawled back to the river and found a mid sized rock which she pushed partially into the water. Taking a smaller, slightly rough rock, she placed the remains of her shirt on the rock, and started rubbing lightly on it with some sand from the river with the other rock.

The water started to turn pink with dried blood. Frowning she scrubbed harder. As she pressed hard into the shirt a gray black mist rose into the water, overwhelming the pinkness.

The girl frowned. Dye?

She looked at her hands, smelling them. It was musty. Rubbing her fingers on her shirt she picked up some of the black substance and rubbed it between her fingers.

It was smooth, almost silky. She smelled it again. It was the same musty smell. It must be the shirt dye, she concluded. Still, she was uneasy because the dye reminded her of the black bile she had coughed up when she woke. Hopefully that had just been whatever had accumulated in her lungs while she slept, however gross that might be.

The girl scrubbed with a renewed vigor now, until the water around her shirt was clear again.

Upon finishing that, she probed the edges of her wound, cleaning carefully, and gently rinsed it out with some more water.

Lifting the shirt out of the water, she squeezed it with her left and scooted back to her fire, dragging the mid-sized rock behind her. She spread the shirt on top of it in front of the fire and then picked up the newly dried strips of cloth that had been made from her sleeves.

Patting the brown moss to be certain she wouldn't burn herself, and carefully placed it in strips down the wound. Taking the lines of cloth she tied the moss to her arm until the entire wound was covered. It was the best she could do for now.

The girl eyed her shirt. There was one other thing she could do.

Taking the axe, she tore at the bottom of her shirt, taking off two inches of the hem all the way around. Holding the ring of cloth her raised it over her head, and behind her right shoulder. It cradled her right arm. Now it would be a little easier to remember not to use her right arm and reinjure it.

She leaned back against the trunk of the mossy tree, watching the sun rise over her small fire. It was time to think long term.

The girl opened her cargo pocket with her left hand, and pulled out the map she had taken.

She had a vague sort of guess that the map might hold the location of the other teams. The girl frowned, realizing what she had just thought. Other teams? That was right, there were other teams. At least one for every state? She couldn't quite remember.

If it was true that there were other teams out there, her best chance of survival was to find one of them. She looked at the map, taking in the fragile flutter of the paper, and the red and green dots spread across the map. Was red a team, or was green? What else did the dot of the other color indicate?

The girl eyes went to the top of the map. If she looked at what color dot indicated her team then she would know which color meant what. A cold sense of dread touched her as she stared at the tips of Michigan's fingers. The middle one stuck out a little like it was flipping her off. Nothing. There was nothing at the top of the map.

Taking a deep breath to dilute the panic that churned within her, she told herself that she could just search all the dots and find out first hand what they were. As she looked at the map her fear and frustration deepened her as she realized something else. This was a map of the entire United States. A little dot on this map could be miles and miles of terrain.

The girl put a hand over her mouth and fought a sob of pure exhaustion. She would have to search each of the areas, but the fact was there was no guarantee that anyone else would even be alive.


	3. Shadows in the Night

Chapter 3

Bam! The sound of the creaky shutter banging against the side of the building is driving me insane. I try to sleep, but the sound keeps on waking me up in a panic whenever I come close to drifting off. I have given up trying now. I sit on my bed, back to the headboard, staring with eyes that feel sunken at the opaque window of my room. This is not the first night I have given up on trying to sleep.

I count the long crack in the ceiling for comfort. There are many of them, so it will keep me occupied. There's a long jagged one that runs from my corner of the room all the way to the opposite corner. About a quarter of the way across, another one meets it and widens the crack, coming from the edge of the room the window is on. Cracks run down the walls. Cracks run across the floor. The only thing that really isn't cracked is the wall to my right where my heavy oak set door is placed...and the wall around the window.

My comrades know better than to let cracks form there.

I am tired of counting cracks. Bam! Once again the shutter bangs against the wall, flooding my arms and throat with the pain of surprise. I rise from my bed, and I am ashamed to say that an almost feral growl of frustration escaped my lips. That damn shutter! I charge.

Clink. Clang. The chain attached to the back of my homespun straight jack goes taut as I near the opposite wall. I can almost see the shutter. The wind blows it back and Bam!

The sound sends a flood of pain through my head. My legs buckle as tears form in my eyes. My lack of sleep is now turning into a headache.

Please. Please, please, please. Just stop it.

I lay on the ground, my face and arms pressed into the cold floor. The cold is too much for me. I start to shiver.

As my dignity and resolve dissolve I open my mouth. "Help! Please help me! Help!"  
My cries don't even echo. Well. That would be cliche anyways.

She is the one who answers. "What is it?"

Her face hovers near the open square in the oak door. She looks bored. My cheeks go red, and I scramble back onto the bed.

Bam! Both she and I jump as the shutter slams against the side of the building again. She presses her hand against her chest, and I lower my head as the headache intensifies. "The window. Please..."

She looks at me with small creases above and below her eyes. "I see."

We are four stories above the floor. The only way she'll be able to get to the shutter is by opening my window.

She disappears briefly, but when she finally reappears and opens the door she is trailed by a goliath of a man with a large feral beard and a thin bony man with brown eyes so pale that they look yellow.

Yellow-eyes points his gun at me.

She stands behind him. She is the only one who will speak to me. "Al, I know that with so many people in your room." Her eyes glance back at the window as Goliath starts to work. "You'll be tempted to try and escape. I just want to remind you have been doing well the past few days. If you can last another week without an event, we can be sure that you're safe to release."

I decide not to reply, though if I thought I could get her to talk longer, I would. I know by now that talking to my comrades, and especially her, is useless.

The cracks behind my comrades have started to move. They coalesce behind her to form a grim smile. It is skeletal and angry, and as soon as I see it, my eyes close. I don't want to see what will happen. If I close my eyes, it won't happen. But it's like I've been shot up with a drug. I can't control myself. As the pain in my head clears, I open my eyes again, and the grim face has formed itself into a dark, three-dimensional drawing that stands behind the woman.

Goliath is pulling his body back in from the open window, the lone shutter that had been tormenting me in his hand. He does not see my phantom to the left. As I stare at Goliath, the phantom raises it's hand, like a spear. The woman continues to speak, taking up some small piece of my attention as I watch with horror. "I heard that you used to be in the army. Is that true, Al?" The broken shadow lifts its sharpened nails to Goliath's neck as he looks at the woman.

I close my eyes again.

I hear her scream, and I can't help but open my eyes again. I am no longer in my straight jacket; instead I am on the other side of the room, a jagged piece of the shutter in my hand. Goliath clutches at the base of his neck as it bleeds. I have five seconds to jump through the window before the floorboards I was standing on explode as yellow-eyes' gun goes off.

I hit several tree branches as I fall down the four-story building. Thank God I planned an emergency exit. Then I hit the snow, and I scramble down the hill, ignoring the blood coming off my leg from the landing. A patch of snow explodes as I reach the tree line, but by that time I am already gone.

* * *

As the noon sun rose, the girl unwrapped the moss binding on her arm and piled it together with the other waste-bandages to her right. The wound on her arm had taken surprisingly well to the moss binding. It had now been two weeks since she woken up. Now she could stand up and walk without trouble, and by some strange twist of fate, she had found a half empty, scavenged backpack a few feet from the pit. There were holes in it, but the sewing kit she found inside of it made the backpack usable. The best guess she could make was that it belonged to one of the people from her team, maybe even her. She was the only one who hadn't been crushed after all. Animals must have found it in the pit and dragged it outside to take whatever food was inside.

However it had happened, the pack had ended up in the forest, and no food had remained inside it. In addition to the thread, she had found half a torn blanket, and a shirt and a pair of pants that fit her fairly well. That made her stop and wonder if the backpack was really hers, but with the black shirt and pants feeling so much like a uniform, she couldn't be sure. She had hoped to find some rope or a knife, but she'd had no such luck.

As she sewed the holes in the pack shut she'd realized how heavy the pack was still, and to her surprise she found a zipper at the bottom of the bag. Opening it up, she found a compass and a paracord bracelet. That made her stop. She stared at the compass. It was covered in grit and the glass was slightly broken. Slowly the girl turned, watching the needle. It kept pointing firmly back into the jungle.

She sighed. Well, at least she was sure of where she was now. If she wanted to go South she had to head into the sand dune wasteland.

By evening she was mostly ready. She'd spent the day collecting moss and hunting fish in the river, building up the supply she'd already created. With the warmth of the day and a bit more food in her stomach, her energy had spiked. She'd used the paracord to make a fishing line and had searched her considerable pile of moss for bugs. After that, all she'd needed was time to catch the fish.

As the world cooled for the night, she still faced one issue. What about water? She had plenty of water here, where there was a river, but the moment she headed out into the desert she was on the clock. Her life lasted just as long as she had water, but she had no way to carry it.

The girl sat at the edge of her fire, staring at the river. She just wouldn't be able to last out there without water. Heck, she could die even if she were able to carry water. Who knew how big that wasteland was?

Out of frustration, she leaned over and pulled the worn black and green pack to her knees. She zipped open the metal zipper again and felt along the sides for about the fiftieth time that day, hoping for another secret compartment.

Nothing.

The shadows created by the fire seemed to stretch longer before her as the girl placed her head in her hands. The best she could think to do was to make one out of wood, but she had no knife, which meant she couldn't even carve anything.

The girl looked at her hands, unsure. An image flashes before her eyes. Her hand was flat on the ground, and another, masculine, hand held a sharpie above it.

"I'll write my name on your hand, and you write yours on mine," the man said. "That way, the next time we meet we'll know each other's names. No more awkward introductions."

The girl breathed in quickly, blinking. The memory made her head fuzzy. Her name. Melancholy starts to fill her. What is her name? Her head started to hurt as she searched her mind for something, any detail, any clue. And who was the man? Why did she want to remember his name? Did it even matter?

Why was it so easy to remember what her mission was when she couldn't even remember her own name?

Lifting her eyes away from her hands, the girl stared out into the darkness beyond her fire. As she dug within her brain it started to pound, and the black, dancing shadows in front of her seemed to grow larger and more malicious.

Nothing was going to change. She was going to remain stuck, here forever, because there was nothing else she could do. The pounding in her head increased and the girl stood, her body shaking with a sudden, hot anger she couldn't shake.

"Damn!" The girl took in a shredded sob. She was going to die here, alone.

She was going to go mad.

The shadows thickened, reaching towards her until she screamed out in pain. Just stay here. They seemed to say. It's safe here.

The girl's eyes widened as the shadows reached for her. Stumbling backwards, she tripped over the log she was sitting on and landed on her bottom, hard.

Tears rimmed the edges of her eyes and the shadows continued to reach for her, their motions like caresses. All you need to do is live.

The girl curled inward, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face into her knees.

No.

For as long as she dared the girl remained curled there, her body shaking. When, finally, her beating heart slowed, she raised her head. The campfire crackled cheerfully as usual, and the shadows were back to where they were supposed to be.

The girl felt her heart tighten. There was something wrong about this place. All she needed to do was live? The girl sat up and put her head and arms on the log she had tripped on. If she didn't find other people, there was point to her surviving the asteroid in the first place. There was no point in her life if she didn't find other people.

As these thoughts flowed through her head, something hardened in her mind. She would leave tomorrow evening, when the desert was cool, water bottle or not, damn knife or not.

She couldn't stay here. There was no point. She hadn't sacrificed her entire world to live out her life alone.

Rising to her feet shakily, the girl reached for her backpack.

The next morning the girl found a canteen hanging from a swiss knife stabbed into the tree next to where she had been sleeping.

A frantic and rather nervous search of the area had revealed no signs of human life other than her own. The girl returned to her campground and sat once more on the log seat she had been using the two weeks she had been awake. She ran her dirt-covered fingers through her hair and stared at her backpack, wondering if it too had been disturbed. She hadn't touched the knife, nor the canteen. Once again, a wave of uneasiness ran through her and she shivered. Throughout the day yesterday and during the night she had set some fish she'd caught by the fire to dry and smoke. Feeling the beginnings of pain from her stomach, she turned to the fish. She glanced at it. What if it had been disturbed by her nighttime visitor too? Breaking off a piece with her fingers, the girl put it under her nose and smelled it. Then she put it into her mouth and tasted it. It tasted like nothing, but then again it wasn't salted. Bland. If someone had poisoned it, she would taste it in the blandness. Hungry, the girl finished the fish.

This last day was a moot point in her preparation so she spent the day relaxing, sleeping as much as she could, and building up her energy. Mostly, she spent it staring at the canteen and knife. Right before the sun set she finally took the canteen and knife out of the tree and filled the bottle. She'd almost expected to have someone jump out of the bushes when she'd done it, but nothing had happened.

Then, as the last rays of light abandoned the edge of the horizon, the girl set out onto the sand.


	4. Any Sign of Life

Chapter 4

The canteen was cradled between her arms as she stared out past the edge of the rock into the noon sun. It had been three days since she'd started out onto the dunes of Lake Huron. The edges of her eyes were painful and tight. She could feel the specks of dirt covering her face as her cheek pressed into the ground. In five, maybe six more hours the sun would set and she'd have to start walking again. She needed to rest, but the thirst aching at the back of her throat wouldn't let her sleep. About a third of the canteen is left, despite all her attempts to be careful with the water. She'd be able to stretch it out tonight while she walked and then maybe have a little left for the next day before she ran out.

The girl closed her eyes, trying to forget the aching of her body. Even in the shade the sun invaded her sight, shining through her eyelids until she thought she would grow dizzy from the orange. She opened her eyes again and looked up at the rock outcropping beside her. How could she find water? She hadn't seen any cactus, and by now she didn't have the energy to dig to try and find water. Even if she'd known where to dig. Where could she find water?

Rolling over a little, the girl turned to face the edge of the shade. She stared out into the desert. The horizon shimmered with a blue so pale that she imagined that the white sand and the pale blue sky could be one and the same. Her vision grew blurry, and for a moment, she saw a dark speck on the horizon. Instantly she widened her eyes and peered at it again.

Blue horizon. Pale yellow sand. She squinted her eyes again, blurring the landscape. A black speck barely came into focus again.

The girl's heart started to beat harder. Carefully she reached for her backpack and rummaged through the front pocket. Pulling out her compass, she peered at it and back in the direction of the speck. It was south east. When she'd left the jungle, she'd decided to head south and try to cross the lake as quickly as possible.

If she wasn't just seeing a mirage, then maybe that could be on the shore. A strong impatience ran through her. Her first impulse was to get up and start walking.

But that would be stupid. If it was a mirage she'd be wasting energy out in the hot sun. She had to wait. The girl curled up, putting her left arm over her head. She had to sleep…

 _The sand nestled between her toes like one of those fancy memory foam shoes. The sun was out, but scattered clouds kept the beach just warm enough that she was enjoying herself._

 _Crouched down low, she stared at the water. Then reaching over, her hand dropped beneath the surface of the tide pool. Jabbing her hand deep into the water, she snatched something from the bottom of the pool and pulled it out of the water. Lifting the starfish so she could view it better, she grinned. Almost holding her breath, she stroked the back of the starfish with her left hand._

 _A pair of hands went over her eyes._

 _"_ _Guess. Who?" A raspy attempt at a changed voice whispered into her ear._

 _Her grin widened. "Let go of me Eric," she said, squirming beneath the hands. "I know it's you."_

 _"_ _I have never heard of this Eric person," the voice rasped. "But I assure you, I would never have so normal a name. I mean, the first thing people think of is the little mermaid. That would really ruin a guy's rep."_

 _She finally thought to use her fingers. Slowly, she put the starfish back down in the water and then carefully grabbed one of his fingers and peeled it off her face. Immediately the rest left, and she was able to turn around._

 _Eric sat behind her looking innocent. His eyes wide he pointed down the beach. "Did you see that guy? I was going to fight him, but then you, like, tore his finger off and he bolted down the beach." Eric put a hand to his forehead peering down the beach. "Man, was he fast!"_

 _She rolled her eyes, punching him in the shoulder. "Uh-huh. You dufus."_

 _"_ _Agh, agh, pain and agony." Eric gripped his shoulder dramatically. "I can't believe my own wife would punch me. I'm calling spousal abuse."_

 _Smiling again, she raised a brow. "Oh, really? Well, what if I make it better, then?"_

 _It was Eric's turn to raise a brow. "How-?"_

 _Leaning forward she kissed Eric. When she leaned back again, he had a huge grin spread wide across his face. He leaned towards her, but she put as hand in between them. "As much as I enjoy kissing you, Eric. I'm in the middle of research for my thesis."_

 _Eric cleared his throat. "Actually Mare, to be honest, I came here to tell you something."_

 _Adrenaline went through her. "Did you get that promotion at NASA?" she whispered._

 _Eric shook his head. "No. But Director Black offered me a position in a different program. And…If I accept it we both would be involved in it? Work there? It's an offer for both of us or neither of us." He scratched the back of his head._

 _She frowned. "Both of us? Why would they need both of us?"_

 _Eric shrugged. "Director Black wanted to meet with us today and let us know the details…."_

The girl woke up with a jerk, shivering violently. The sun was gone, the last tendrils of light barely illuminating the distant sky. Her hands shaking, she rummaged through her pack, pulling out the torn blanket and wrapping it around her. She rubbed her arms furiously, trying to build up the warmth in her body again.

That dream.

Her hands shook as she tied two corners of the blanket in front of her.

She'd been married?

She stood up, running in place to try to warm herself up.

She had been studying marine biology?

After a moment, she leaned against the rock outcrop and panted.

She had a name.

A slow smile spread across her face. She had a name. Mare. Her name was Mare. Well, Mare was obviously a nickname, so she still didn't know what her full name was, but it was better than nothing. It was better than wandering around nameless. Mare leaned back against the rocks, thinking about Eric's face. She'd been married!

A moment later the smile wiped itself right off her face. If she was married, then why had she been a part of Plan Z? She wouldn't have left Eric behind. Where was he?

The image of the avalanche that had covered the other cryopods flashed before her eyes. What if the job Director Black had told them about had been Plan Z? What if Eric had been in one of the cryopods?

Mare abruptly leaned down and snatched up her backpack. No. He couldn't have been in there. Inside her stomach, something started to twist and she felt sick.

Him being inside one of the other cryopods was the only thing that made sense.

Almost tearing at the cloth of the backpack, Mare pulled out the compass she had used before. Thinking about this now would only waste her time and energy. She needed to finish crossing the desert. She needed to get to that speck or she probably would die.

Mare looked at the compass and started to walk.

She guessed it was Cheboygan. She'd never been to the city, but she'd heard of it. Before her stretched a series of mostly buried buildings. Roof after decaying roof popped up out of the sand like twisted spring flowers every couple feet or so. Cheboygan was at the tip of Michigan's hand, right where the middle finger was. Mare scoffed, Michigan was giving her the bird. She'd reached "the shore" but the desert just went on and on after it. Her "speck" had turned out to be a lighthouse, half buried and almost all the way decayed. She realized now that she'd been thinking that for some reason the water had just disappeared. It had never crossed her mind that there had been even more changes than that. At this rate, she'd be dead before she got to the end of this desert. It could go on and on all the way to the coast, all the way down to South America. What if all that there was left of the earth was one giant desert? Putting her head in her hands Mare swayed unsteadily in the sand, taking a deep breath. No. She'd seen a jungle up north. There had to be more than that out here.

Mare's eyes continued to scan the sand, looking at the half or almost fully buried buildings before her. This was a city. Which meant that if she got inside one of the buildings she might be able to find water. Most of the roofs looked pretty shadowy in the wane light of the moon. If she didn't know better, or if there had only been one, it would have just looked like they were giant rocks in the darkness.

She would guess that her best bet would be to look for a store. As she studied the town of roofs, Mare tried to guess which rooftop might belong to one. Most stores had flat roofs. Also, most stores would probably be further into the city.

Mare continued to walk and after some time so she found a flat rooftop fairly far inside the collection of buried buildings

The sand kept on getting in her boots, but after another half an hour she manage to dig her way to a window. Surprisingly, the glass was mostly still intact. There were cracks in it where the sand had started to put pressure on it, but otherwise it looked like it hadn't been touched in a long time. Inside it was dark. Mare leaned back, putting her feet against the glass. Then she kicked it hard. The glass shattered, scattering itself over her. Mare slowly got up again, brushing the glass off carefully. Using her boot to clear off the jagged edges of the window, Mare pushed herself through. The moment she left the edge of the window she realized she's made a mistake. What grocery store had a second floor? She was going to fall ten feet and break something. Mare tensed, her stomach dropping as her body fell. The next moment she hit the ground a foot down from the window with a thump. Cold chills ran up and down Mare's body. She pressed her head against the ground. She let out a tense breath. She was so lucky. She was so stupid.

A moment passed and she got up, her heart still pumping hard. Reaching inside her pack, she took out her lighter and a piece of moss wrapped around a piece of wood. Once she flicked the lighter, the moss caught quickly and she held up the homemade torch. Looking up and around she saw the wall across from her and realized she was wrong about the building. This was not a store.

Across from her was a door, and placed neatly in front of it is a decaying mat that read WELCOME.

The words reflected off the glistening plastic screen door behind it, coming out upside down. She blinked and read it-MERCOWE.

 _"_ _Mehr-coh-way. Look! That would be a pretty cool name." Mare's mother said it with a laugh, leaning back from inspecting the reflection on their front door. She glanced at Mare, putting a thoughtful finger on her chin. "Hey, you could tell people that's what your first name is. It fits your nickname."_

 _Mare's father, a thick gray-haired man, glanced at the reflection. "I don't know Diana. It looks more like Mer-Cow to me." His graying eyebrows flicked upwards. "Like a cow of the sea!" He glanced at Mare. "What do you think?"_

 _Mare shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me. It's just a placemat."_

 _Mare's mother laughed. "It's not the placemat, honey. It's a refined name. Mehr-coh-way. It sounds exotic, right?"_

Mare blinked, the sudden memory making her unsteady. She leaned against the wall next to the door, taking another deep breath. She didn't like these memories. She hadn't realized it up until that very moment, but life had been a lot easier before she remembered the details. No matter how she looked at it all remembering was doing to her now was reminding her that everything was gone. All those people were lost, because although the memory of her parents faces warmed her, at the same time it left her feeling icy all over. No matter how she thought about it, they were dead.

Mare reached for the hatched strapped to the side of her backpack. She pulled it out and started hammering at the edge of the door. The door crumbled with just two blows and she entered the apartment, her hatchet ready for anything that might be living inside.

The apartment was empty, and warm dusty air flooded her as she stepped inside the room. There was a sagging couch and side table off to her left, and a small rusted safe in the corner. Mare's eyes were instantly drawn to the safe, but she stopped herself from walking over to it. She was looking for water, any energy she used trying to get the thing open wouldn't be worth whatever might be inside.

Ignoring the front room, Mare walked into the kitchen. Inside was a small round table that was leaned to the side because it was missing its fourth leg. To her left was a refrigerator, and a row of cabinets. Mare opened a cabinet. It was empty. She opened the second one, and then the third. They were all empty.

She glanced back out to the front room. Well, it looked like whoever had lived here had been very thorough in taking their things. Leaning over, Mare opened the refrigerator. The back of the fridge was a gaping hole and a tunnel ran back into the darkness.

Mare stared at it, the torch flickering in her hand. Then she slowly closed the door again. She didn't want to know what was going on there. There was obviously no water down there.

Mare walked through the front room again, heading for the door. A that moment she heard a soft hiss. Lifting the torch, she swiveled, looking at the ground around her. The objects in the room remained motionless. Another soft hiss floated towards her and Mare realized that the sound was coming from outside the door.

Leaning outside of the door, Mare looked around carefully. A spray of sand landed at her feet and Mare looked up.

The window she'd come through.

It was filling with sand.

A burst of adrenaline ran through her and Mare bolted towards the falling sand. Panicked, she tore through the shifting sand. It covered her mouth and her eyes, trying to push her back. Desperate, she clawed with more furious energy, throwing the sand behind her. Her energy managed to get her farther up through the sand, but a moment later the sand collapsed behind and on top of her, pinning her body underneath the weight of earth.

Mare coughed and a mouthful of sand went into her mouth. No. She needed to get out of here. She tried to take in another breath, but the sand went up her nose. She needed to breathe! As the air left her body, her thrashing grew weaker. Needed to…. Trying to breath in through her mouth again, Mare choked, and her vision started to blur.

The next moment something latched onto her and her head was jerked backwards as she was dragged through the sand by her hair. Iron fingers grabbed her by her left shoulder, and another set of hands dug at the sand next to her. The sun blinded her as she surfaced, and Mare gagged, collapsing on the sand as the helping hands let go of her. She coughed, tears in her eyes as the sweet air flooded her sand encrusted mouth.

Mare spat on the ground, trying to clear her mouth of the awful salty taste. Blinking, she finally managed to look to her right.

A younger man with shaggy black hair crouched next to her. He looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"


	5. The First Step Forward

Chapter 5

It is flooding again. Fubuki and Mitsuru are huddled up next to me as we watch the rivers of water rage beneath us. We are safe in our cave, for now. It is rainy season again, and although I am not sure whether the seasons have kept a true pattern over the years, I sense or maybe hope that slowly the world may be growing steadier as each season passes. I can't be sure.

Fubuki sits up next to me, his eyes sharpen and concentrate on something beyond the rain and wind. I follow his eyes and see a pillar of smoke in the distance. Smoke? During rain?

Could it be a person? I can't help how fast my mind jumps to that option. It's unlikely, but I know there have to be more people out there. Somewhere. Kumakawa said there were other teams. How else could a fire start when there's all this rain? I glanced back down to Fubuki. I think it's been around twelve years since I've seen another person. With the seasons so mixed though, I'm not sure.

Filled with a quiet sort of urgency I stand and look through the sheets of water coming down. Smoke. As I stare I'm almost afraid that the black column will disappear right before my eyes.

I can't leave the cave. If I tried to climb down right now I would fall. Fubuki and Mitsuru wouldn't be able to get down. We have to stay here. But I can still stare, try to pin down the smoke with my eyes.

* * *

After escaping down the snowy mountainside my feet are blue. It's a unique color. Sadly, I don't like blue. My body shivers uncontrollably. The shadows that followed me after I landed have finally disappeared and I am left alone with my tears and shaking. For once, I am grateful to be alone.

At the base of the mountain there is no more snow, although it is still cold. Slowly, while I gather my senses, I rub feeling back into my feet. I need to warm up, otherwise I am going to freeze to death long before my comrades would find me. I can't start a fire here, out in the open, where they'll see it either. That would be a dead giveaway. A dead giveaway. Dead. Haha. Even I think that's a bad pun. But they would find me and kill me or I'd end up in that God forsaken icy encrusted jail up the mountain again. The pain in my head that came with the cracked phantom has finally subsided and I take a long look around me, almost cheerful when I've finished crying from the fear of it.

I am free. The sky is a pale blue and about a hundred feet behind me the snow starts. There are pine trees sprinkled around me. I sit beneath one on a pile of pine needles. I am really free. My head clears a little more and I vaguely recognize the landscape. This is no hallucination. I think I remember seeing this mountain in the distance once.

When they first took me up the mountain I had been blind folded, so I wouldn't know how to get back down. Ironically, that was what had heightened my senses and helped me to remember something else. Sulfer. When I was first taken to my prison I had smelled sulfur.

That means that maybe, possibly, there are hot springs around here somewhere. I can't smell any sulfur right now, but if I did and was able to find a hot spring I would be able to warm up.

The next moment another thought crosses my mind. If there is a hot spring around here, then my comrades probably already know about it. Silently, I curse the yellow-eyed man, Goliath and the others. I try not to think about the woman. All those luke-warm wash downs. They'd probably been using the hot springs the entire time.

I look back up the mountain, trying to picture which direction I came down, what I was able to see from the window of my prison. I huddle closer to the pine tree, rubbing my arms with pine needles this time in the hope that it will encourage more heat. I close my eyes trying to picture it.

The straight jacket. My arms are tied, perpetually folded. The smell of old wood. The clink of iron. I see rusted bars and blue sky beyond it. I strain against the chains, against the jacket to get closer. To see. To see anything but wood and ice. The edge of the hillside comes in view. There are more mountains in the distance. And snow.

I gasp, shivering even harder. I shudder in disgust and move my arms, desperate to feel the move and stretch of my muscles after remembering. I get up.

Damn the hot springs. I'll make a fire without smoke.

I move my arms and pump my legs as I walk down the mountainside, looking for dry wood. A minute later I settle next to a formations of rocks that lean out towards the top of the mountain. The fallen wood next to them is dry, and I take a small pile of pine needles and set them underneath a tepee of wood I leaned together. The next minute a small spark of fire has started amidst the pile. I lean down and blow on the flame until it starts to really catch. Then the wood above the needles catches.

Relief floods me as I start to feel a little warmth on my frozen toes. A couple more hours and these little piggies wouldn't have been going anywhere ever again. I laugh. That was a bad pun too.

Then another emotion floods me as I take a moment to think. I started that fire really fast. How did I start the spark? I look down at my hands and see a blackened rock and the broken shutter. The shutter is still bloody.

The shutter and rock sail across the fire, as far as I can throw them. I clutch my elbows, eyes wide as I try to slow my breathing. Both items remain prone of the ground. I look at my hands again. Blisters.

It's been far too long since I started a fire with flint.

My shoulders shake and I start to cry again. I cover my face with my hands. I don't want to look at the world right now. I just killed a man. Here I was, getting mad at a them using a hotspring. I killed him.

Although I don't know Goliath's name, I can't forget his face even in the darkness of my hands. The woman's face is the one that visits me next. Her lips are pressed together, and I can see that look of disappointment she had when her face appeared at the window of my cell, the look of patience when she said my name. "Al."

She decided to trust me again. She had sympathy for my pain, my madness. I killed one of our comrades. I killed one of only 5,000 humans that I know remain alive. The weight of this knowledge makes me sink to the floor, my head down on my feet, next to the fire. My muscle burn as they strain to hold the stretched position, and I push myself further, enjoying the pain.

I can't bring Goliath back.

But I can ensure that I stay alive, because right now every human life that is left is essential. I can't rejoin my comrades, but I can find another group. I can continue the mission that we were all sent here for. I can survive.

Out of the corner of my eye the shadows thrown by the fire start to form, and the darkness smiles at me. I clench my teeth and close my eyes.

The next day I reach the base of the mountain. It's there that I smell the sulfur again. At first my immediate thought is to move away from the area as fast as possible. I stand on the edge of a cliff and consider. I have no shoes. I have no food. I have no tools. Those are perfect ingredients to concoct my ensured death.

I am fairly sure that my comrades do use the hot springs. Which means that I could use whatever items they happen to leave lying around while they enjoy those heated waters. I can't help but smile. Well, they get the bath, and I need the supplies.

I move to the left, heading towards where I can smell the sulfur the strongest. As it gets stronger I crouch, moving forward on my hands and knees. After a few scratches and an unfortunate encounter with something that has to be related to poison ivy I reach a rock outcropping, and I can practically feel the heat.

I look over the edge.

I see long black hair that reaches a midback that I can't help but recognize. She is sitting at the edge of the water, fully clothed. Faster than a breath, I jerk myself back and press my face into the dirt, the image engraved into my mind.

That woman's here. Why didn't I think of that?

* * *

After about two days of waiting the rain has lightened. After the morning of the first day, the smoke disappeared. I can't say that I am surprised.

The skies clear and finally the three of us make our way down the cliffside towards where the smoke came from.

I throw a rock, and Mitsuru catches it, going along ahead of us. As I walk, I can't help but think. Could it really have been other people who made that smoke? Experience tells me that out here unusual things tend to be dangerous and better avoided. It's how I've survived.

I look at the ragged edges of my clothes, the thinness of my body, feel the slight ache that I got after sleeping in a cave for two nights. If this can be called living.

I remember reading a manga about a man who was shipwrecked alone on an island. He lived alone there for years. There is something that I didn't pay attention to when I was reading the book, but now passes into my mind periodically. In the story, this man kept himself busy. He built himself a house and furniture. He planted crops and found animals he could use for milk and meat. Even though all of these things were difficult, in the story he seemed happy.

That's what I can't understand now. I am here. I am alive. I hold on. But I am not content. If I were content then maybe I would do what he did and build myself a house, grow food and create for myself a life in one place. How could this man be content when he was alone?

I have come to realize that I am not like this man. I can't stay in one place. I can't build myself a home because I am not ready to stop. I think the reason I keep on moving from place to place is not because of the changing seasons or even the dangerous animals that I've seen. I am looking for someone. Anyone. I can't be like that man in the book. Happy and alone.

I don't want to believe that I am the last human left alive.

Rough fur pushes up against my hand and I look down at Fubuki. He pants and whines at me a little. I look up again, and now I can smell what he smelled too. It is the smell of mildew and smoke, along with metal.

I grip my backpack and continue forward. Mitsuru rejoins us, her fur stiff and on end. She whines too as we walk closer towards the smell.

A few minutes later, I can feel heat. Steam comes up through the wet grass and trees from farther into the forest. I stop and put my hands around my face, trying to get a better take on the smell. This doesn't feel like smoke. It feels more like steam, and if there is gas in it, that could kill me.

I take in a cautious breath, smelling mildew, smoke, and metal. It hasn't changed. Fubuki looks up at me, practically sitting on my feet in his need to be near. I take another breath. There's water there too. Maybe steam and smoke?

It smells like burning. I want to go back. It would be the cautious thing to do. But if there's a chance, even a small one, that someone else is awake and nearby I don't want to lose it. I can't lose it.

I start walking forward again. The ground is soft and now my shoes are soaked. I'll have to build a fire and dry them after this. If there is an after this. I can't stop.

It is almost as if I'm hypnotized. I take a few steps in the smoke and steam, and the dark outline of a building comes in view, as I pass a row of trees. A few more steps, and I can see that the building, which is barely jutting out of the ground, is what had been burning.

Mitsuru barks. Then she grabs me by the pant leg, yanking. A burst of steam shoots out of the ground, half catching me in the face. Pain sears across my left side and I land painfully on the wet mud. I gasp in pain, but don't scream, my hands covering the burn.

My head is spinning. A bit of my hand brushes the burn and this time I do cry out, my vision going grainy before I can fight my way back to clarity.

Mitsuru nuzzles my other arm and I grab onto her, still dizzy and now feeling weak with the pain. Fubuki comes up on my other side and I slowly stand all the way up. Intense relief fills me. They're both okay. It seems that neither of them were hit.

I look back towards the burnt shape. The building is about fifty feet away. A spurt of steam comes up, about ten feet away. I flinch. Another one goes off, closer to the building. I don't know why, but now it seems that every few seconds another jet of steam comes out of the ground between me and the building.

I should probably go back. It is legitimately dangerous here. But I can't, because now the question has grown even more urgent in my mind. How could a building burn in the middle of a steam field?


	6. Specialties and Monitors

Chapter 6

Mare trembled, hardly believing what her eyes saw. She opened her mouth and closed it again, staring. Shaggy hair looked to a tall bald man standing to his right. "Hand me the water bottle, will you Jeff? She doesn't look good, she could have heat stroke."

The bald man crouched down next to shaggy hair, and Mare slowly noticed that there were two more people standing around her on her left. A woman with black hair covered in a wide rimmed cowboy hat stood at the edge of her vision and a red head with a head band was rummaging through her bag. Mare tried to speak, but before she could Jeff thrust a large water bottle in her hands.

Mare's hands trembled and she meant to thank Jeff, but without her approval her hands moved and the bottle was suddenly at her lips. Cool water ran down her throat, making it ache painfully and easing the pain of her cracked lips. The next moment Mare choked, yanking the canteen away from her mouth as she spluttered, coughing violently.

"Whoa, whoa there, girl. Take it slowly. Your body can't handle too much at once." The red headed girl patted her back softly as Mare tried to regain her breath.

Mare gasped for breath. "Thanks," she finally managed to croak. Mare flinched, surprised at how rough and quiet her voice sounded. The redheaded girl looked at the shaggy haired boy. "It might be best if you and Jeff ran back to camp and brought Lucy. I don't know if this girl is in much shape to walk."

"Wait," Mare rasped. "I'm okay. I can walk."

The red head turned back to Mare. "Be real girl, you need to get in shade and just lie down for a couple days. You're shaking a lot."

Mare frowned. Shaking? She looked down and suddenly noticed that Jeff had taken the canteen away from her. Water dampened the sand next to her, and her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

The world seemed to brighten and come into a painful degree of focus. Mare looked back at the redhead. "Wha—?" The sky started spinning wildly and the redhead's hair flashed like fire.

Indistinctly, Mare felt soft sand press against her back and heard distant voices shouting. Then blackness ate at the edges of the sky, fading into her vision until it left only a little pinpoint of light that was then swallowed up in night.

* * *

Mare became aware slowly. She was on the ground, and although she knew she was warm, it was miraculously dark. Mare turned her head, opening her eyes. A pole stretched over her head, dark blue cloth draping from it. She was inside a tent. She tried to rise a little and suddenly the pole started spinning, multiplying as well. Mare held her head, lying back down again.

"I would suggest just lying back for now," a male voice spoke, and Mare's eyes flickered to her left. She saw shaggy hair. He was sitting beside her, wringing out a wet piece of cloth that he'd pulled from a small bowl. A moment later a horrible pain went through her head and she groaned a little as it continued to pierce her skull.

Shaggy placed the cloth on Mare's forehead and it eased the throbbing a little. "It hurts," Mare groaned quietly.

"Shhh. I know. You're very, very dehydrated. Your head probably won't get any better until we fix that. So, just sit back, I'm going to give you a sip, and we're going to continue to take this sip by sip until you can handle this yourself, alright?"

"Okay." Mare opened her eyes again and the young man pressed a ceramic cup to her lips, letting a little bit of water run down her throat, cooling it.

Mare smiled, looking up as the slightly wavy black hair that dangled from his head as he leaned over her. "Thank you." She shifted a little, realizing that she was still on sand, but a thick carpet-like cloth had been placed beneath her. A brown, light cloth made of rough material covered her. "Are you…Did you guys wake up from cryo too?"

Shaggy head nodded, smiling and putting the cup down to his right. "So, you're another, huh? You know, you're the first person we've run into since we woke up. I was starting to think no one else existed."

Mare's eyes widened. "How long have you been awake? Do you know where you woke up?"

Shaggy shook his head. "No idea. The terrain's been pretty undecipherable to us." He touched his cheek. "I'd say we've been awake about six months, though."

Mare's brows crinkled and Shaggy gave Mare another sip of water. He looked at her hard. "How long have you been awake? Where are the other people in your group?"

Mare's head started to spin again and she closed her eyes. A moment later she felt Shaggy's hand press against the damp cloth. "It's okay. You've been through a lot, so you can tell us later."

"I'm okay." Mare's voice cracked as she said it and there was an awkward moment of silence as Shaggy gave her an unbelieving look. "I think I woke about three weeks ago…but all the other cryo cells, they'd been crushed in a landslide." She gave a dry laugh. "I guess at least avoided the pain of getting to know them before they died." Not that I even remember if I knew them. The memory of Eric's face as they'd sat on the beach flashed before her eyes.

Shaggy looked at her strangely, but then nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that." He bit his lip. "That means that you've been alone this entire time? That's amazing. You must be a really skilled person."

Mare's lips curled up a little bit. "You make it sound like I did it on purpose. Apparently, I was dying. I didn't even realize I was that dehydrated until you guys showed up."

Shaggy smiled and touched her lightly on the nose. "But you didn't, and considering our lot, I prefer to focus on the positive." Shaggy gave her another sip of water.

Mare mumbled in half agreement. A sense of relief flooded through her. It would seem she had found a good group of people, or at least Shaggy here was good. Mare considered the vague memories she had of the bald guy and the redheaded woman. There was a lot of potential here.

With a slight start, Mare realized that she had accomplished her goal. She wasn't alone anymore. It left her with a sense of unsureness. What was she supposed to do now?

"What are you thinking?" Mare blinked and looked up. Shaggy seemed so kind. She'd never met someone so attentive…well, that didn't mean much since she could barely remember her own parents.

Mare smiled. "What is your name?"

Shaggy laughed. "Sorry, I guess I never formally introduced myself. It's Jason, Jason Heath. What's yours?"

Mare blinked. She hoped he didn't expect a full name in return. The pain in Mare's head had started to ease a little, and she rolled towards him, curling up beneath her blanket. "Mare."

Jason tilted his head a little, smiling and looking at her with a raised brow. "Like a horse? Isn't that just a nickname?"

Mare laughed nervously. What did Mare stand for, really? Why did it even matter. The memory of her mother and father talking about the reflection of the welcome mat came to mind. "It stands for Mercowe. Mare-coh-way."

Jason grinned, picking up the damp cloth from her head and replaced it with another one. "Now _that_ is a funny name, if I've ever heard one."

Mare shrugged. She'd rather not talk about it. "You know, for the past few week focused so hard on finding other people. I really didn't expect to find anyone else so soon. I'm not sure what's going to happen now. What have you and your group been doing?"

Jason gave a snort. "Don't worry, once you're feeling better, we'll have lots for you do. We'll need to know your specialty and what your Monitor told you, as well."

Mare frowned. "Specialty? Monitor? What are those?" Another thing she had forgotten?

Now Jason frowned. "When I say specialty I mean…every one of us was chosen because we had a lot of knowledge in our field. I was finishing medical school when they recruited me. Bobby, the bald guy, is a blacksmith. A Monitor is the person from the government who sponsored and trained you for the program."

Mare pressed her lips together. Had she had a sponsor? She searched her memories, but all she could recall was a shadowy face in a dark hallway, and the thought that she might wake up with the rest of the world dead.

Jason's frown deepened. "I thought everyone had been chosen that way." For a moment it looked like he wanted to say more, but then he hesitated.

Something else was unsettling him. "What is it?"

Jason folded his arms, looking uncomfortable. "Are you married? Or were you married?"

Now Mare sat up, and for a moment her world spun. Jason raised his hand. "Whoa, whoa, I didn't meant to upset you, but you said you didn't know anyone from your group and in our group-"

The entrance to the tent opened. Bobby, and the black haired woman who had been wearing a cowboy hat before walked in. "Jason…Bobby can take over for you now. You've been in here for like, two hours."

Jason looked from the woman and back to Mare. "Right, Jade. Um, Mare's awake."

Jade cocked her brow and looked at Mare with her hands on her hips. "Oh." Her eyes flickered to Mare for a moment. "Mare, is it?" She gave Mare a generic, disinterested smile. "Good to see you're still among the living." Mare blinked, feeling like she'd just been slapped. Bobby frowned, and Jason looked like he'd like to disappear at that moment. How could this woman say something like that so carelessly? Mare remembered the feeling of sand in her mouth and nose suddenly and shivered.

Jade immediately turned back to Jason. She reached for his arm. "Come _on_ , Jason. There are these weird reedy things I found near the lake we found, and we _really_ need to go and check them out."

Jason didn't shift. "Shouldn't you at least introduce yourself before we go?" Mare looked from Jade back to Jason, unhappily. The way she hung on his arm…These two were together?

Jade waved her hand placatively. "Fine, fine." She looked at Mare again, this time not even bothering to smile. "I'm Jade. Jason's _wife._ Nice to meet you and all that junk. This is Bobby." She gestured to the bald man like she was a part of a game show. "He'll babysit you now. Bye!"

Jason tried to speak again, but this time Jade wouldn't take no for an answer, and she dragged him out the entrance before he'd had a chance to say another word. Mare watched them go. What had Jason said right before Jade had interrupted? Everyone in their group was?

Mare looked at Bobby. He shrugged silently. "She's not very patient," he apologized.

Mare smiled at him halfheartedly. "Everyone in your group is married, aren't they?"

Bobby raised a brow, looking surprised. "Was it different with yours?" Mare considered this question for a moment. Her social side immediately bade her tell him that she couldn't remember. But something deeper inside, a part of her that she didn't recognize or remember developing said that if she told them that she couldn't remember hardly anything of her past life, including whatever specialty she might have had in the past, she would immediately become useless to them.

Useless people got abandoned.

"You seem very suspicious for a person who was desperately searching for other groups." Mare stared at Bobby, fear immediately running through her? Did he already suspect? How did he know she'd been looking for people? Had he been listening to her conversation with Jason?

Bobby picked up the damp towel that had fallen on the ground when she'd sat up. He put it back in the bowl and set it aside, reaching for the cup and handing it to her. Mare lifted to cup to her lips, still feeling a little bit of a tremor run through them as she used her muscles. "I did hear you talking to Jason, if you are wondering that. You don't have to answer any questions you don't want to. Feel free to just relax until you heal." Bobby smiled a half smile at her. "Heaven knows you'll need it."

Immediately Mare felt ashamed. Here she was, being treated so kindly and cared for by complete strangers, and she had spent this entire time judging them and being suspicious. Mare bowed her head, gripping the cup of water. "I don't remember anything about my group."

Bobby nodded, his face unreadable. Mare swallowed. "Mostly, I don't remember anything."

"What do you remember?" Bobby pulled his feet underneath him, sitting cross legged.

Mare pressed her three fingers against her tempals. "Little things. If what Jason said was true, then I probably remember talking to my Monitor about going to sleep. Other than that, I can't really remember much that has to do about being sent here: just fragments like doing research on the beach, being with my parents."

"It's a start." Bobby turned and started to pull something out of his bag. "I think that's enough for now. We should probably wait until you can talk to everyone." He winked at her, pressing a handful of small, wrinkled, sweet smelling fruits into her hand. "After all brainstorming with a lot of people can spark a lot of things in the mind."

Mare looked down and lifted what he'd handed her to her nose. It was a familiar smell. "Raisins." Something clicked in her brain.

 _"I told you, I don't like raisins. I mean who likes raisins in cookies anyways? No one! Not when they can have chocolate chips in their cookies."_

 _Eric smiled at her, stirring the bowl of oats, flour, and eggs. Mare tilted her head at him. "What?"_

 _"You know, you're so cute when you're excited. I never see you talk like that when you're at study group."_

 _Mare bit her lip. "I don't know. It's just awkward to talk like that around so many other smart people. You're my boyfriend."_

 _Eric raised a brow. "Mare, you're a freshman and you're in Advanced Biology. I think out of all of us, you're the smartest."_

 _Mare rolled her eyes. "Says the guy who blew me out of the water in the last test."_

 _Eric put down his stirring spoon and pressed his hand against his chest dramatically, leaning against the counter. "It's called age and maturity. They are my greatest assets." He grinned. "Besides, I'm studying my butt off because I need near perfect grades to get into the space program. I think I'm going to do my thesis on cryogenics actually, and you really need to know about how the human body works for that."_

 _"What's cryogenics got to do with the space program?" Mare leaned over and stole a bit of dough from the bowl._

 _Eric glared at her. "Those need raisins in them before you start eating it."_

 _Mare took another pinch. "Uh, huh…So? Cryogenics?"_

 _He sighed, pulling over the bag of raisins and opening it. He took out a measuring cup and filled it. "There are some in the field who are doing research on sending astronauts farther out in space. If we have the tech for longer trips, like cryogenics, it would make some of those ideas possible." He looked at the cup and, shrugging, heaped on some more. "At least that's the simplified version. I want to be on that boat, so I have to start early…"_

Mare's head throbbed again as the rest of the memory faded. Vaguely she recalled that they'd spent the rest of the night discussing theories on cryogenics, but she couldn't pinpoint the details.

Bobby looked at her with a worried expression, and she realized that she'd been sitting there the entire time with her hand at her mouth. "Do you not like raisins?" he asked, sounding disappointed.


	7. As the Ash Falls

The next morning Mare when more opened her eyes she found herself alone. At some point in the night, Bobby had left. Mare pushed herself up slowly with her elbow. Sitting all the way up Mare touched her head. The world didn't spin. Did that mean she was all the way better?

Mare took a moment to think about how she was feeling. Her shoulders, back and legs still ached, but it was a good ache, a healing ache. Her mind felt clear, although her mouth was dry and still a little sandy from her near death experience. Mare kicked off her blanket, finally taking a good look of the tent she'd been sleeping in. She guessed it was about eight by five feet. A clay pitcher and cup had been left next to her blanket and rug. Mare helped herself. They'd taken her torn blanket and had rolled it into a pillow for her.

Mare grabbed it and pushed the flaps of the ten open, crawling out onto the sand. "Whoa!" Mare looked up. "Whoa, why are you doing that? Are you okay?" A redheaded girl, the same one that had been with Bobby and Jason, crouched in front of her suddenly, clapping both hands on Mare's face and inspecting it thoroughly. "You sure you don't just want to crawl right back in there, sport? It's a pretty dirty world out here."

Mare stared at the girl as she continued to squish Mare's face. "Uhh…yeah? 's no' like I can du anyfin' from in dere."

Max continued to inspect her face. "Are you sure? Personally, I think you should crawl right back into that tent."

"Na' 'm goot."

The woman tried to remain serious, but a smile crept in at the edges of her mouth and she snorted. She let go of Mare's face, snorting. "If I were you, I would have taken the excuse for one more day of hookie, but I guess you're better than I am." The redhead grabbed Mare's hand, helping her up. "I'm Max."

"Geez, Max, don't try to corrupt her as soon as she arrives." A familiar voice came from behind Max. Mare saw Jason walk up, smiling. "We all know you just wanted to be able to be the one to play nurse today and get an excuse to stop mixing potions."

Max put her hands on her hips. "I have at least eight tinctures ready to test Jason, do you want to help me with that?" She cocked her head to the side a threatening look in her eyes.

Mare's eyes started wandering beyond the two people arguing. There was a pool of brown water behind Jason, and four or so trees surrounded it, growing in sandy brown earth. Next to her tent were two other larger ones. She continued to scan the area as she heard Red talk. "You realize Jason, that not everyone's job is as fun as yours and we all need a break sometime."

Max turned back to Mare, gaining a chagrined look when she saw that Mare wasn't paying attention. "What's up?"

Mare looked back to the right, seeing empty space and sand and far in the distance, the building she'd been exploring. So…they hadn't gone that far. But where had Shaggy and everyone else come from? She looked to the left and this time she saw more trees and a vague line of black on the horizon. "And what's that?"

Both Jason and Max turned, looking in the direction she pointed. Jason slowly smiled as Max craned her head up at the sky. "No, no! Not another trip. I was out there all day yesterday."

Jason's smile widened. "Those are the woods, and that just happens to be where everyone else is right now." He glanced at Max, who gave him a resigned glare, and turned back to Mare. "Do you want to go and see it?"

Before Mare could answer, Jason frowned a little. "Actually, are you even feeling good enough to do that?"

Mare shrugged, a deep sense of curiosity rising within her. What better thing did she have to do? The weak shaky feeling that had come upon her almost all at once when she'd been saved from the cave in was gone. Also, another emotion had started to form. It was a strangely intense urge to find the other people in this group, like if she didn't find them now, they would slip through her fingers and disappear. "I'm fine."

Max gave her a curious look. "Well, you're a really quiet one. We don't have anyone else like that."

Mare looked up at her, giving a polite smile. She shrugged again. "After being alone for all those weeks, I guess I'm just not used to being around people." Mare fingered the edge of the torn blanket she'd brought with her outside the tent. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine walking over there. Besides, I'm curious what you're so excited about."

Max folded her arms, frowning. There was a low groan from one of the tent suddenly. Max's eyes lit up. She gave a toothy grin at Jason. "Which means, if you and her are going, me and plumber boy get to stay. We don't put everyone in one spot, remember?"

What did that mean? Jason shook his head. "I suppose you're right."

Max giggled in delight. "Don't worry. I'm going to find a lizard-frogs and see what the Lavender grass tincture does to it." A moment later she ducked into the tent where Mare'd head the groan. "Come on Harry. We've got work to do!" Something close to maniacal laughter followed and there was a yelp.

Mare stared at the tent. Would…Harry? Be okay?

Leaning down, Jason picked up Mare's backpack. It's been placed next to her tent, but she hadn't seen it. He handed it to her. "You're backpack's pretty…light? I know we were all trained for this, so I was wondering if that was because you can't carry that much, or is it because…?" he trailed off, uncertain.

Mare took the backpack and swung it over her shoulders. "It was all that was left." She gave him a brief smile.

Jason blushed, looking embarrassed. He turned and picked up another backpack that had been leaning against one of the other tent and Mare thought she heard him mumble, "But then what did you eat? Maybe she lost it when she was in that building."

Mare scoffed, following him as he started walking towards the charcoal mark on the horizon. Did he not consider the moss food? Well…she hadn't considered it food either until she'd been forced to eat it because it was her only option. It wasn't exactly substantial. And she'd run out of fish the day before she'd run into Jason and his group.

Mare swung her backpack over her shoulders. Even to her, it felt woefully light. "So…what's over there?" It was slightly terrifying to realize how close to death she had been in so many ways.

Jason slowed down a little, allowing her to walk beside him as they traveled over the dirt mixed sand. "They're woods…charcoal woods?"  
Mare cocked her head to the side. Charcoal woods?

Jason smiled at her and continued. "This is the border of the desert. Over there are trees, and well…The first four inches or so of each tree's bark is literally this charcoal like substance." He scratched his head. "It's the weirdest thing. We've had Jade look at different plants, and she has made a couple guesses why they grow that way, but we're not sure."

Mare stuck her hands in her pockets, looking at the ground as she walked. How would a tree get a four-inch layer of charcoal on it in the first place?

"I'm betting it has something to do with the fact that there are so many poisonous plants and animals around."  
Mare jerked her head up. "What?"

Jason grinned at her reaction. "So, you can show surprise, huh?"

They were getting within clear view of the forest now. Jason stopped walking and took off his pack. He started to rummage through it.

"Shouldn't we avoid this place then?"

Jason looked up at her. He gave a sigh and shook his head. "Both the woods and the desert are stretching pretty far. Our food only lasts so long before we have to go in there. When we originally came here we were trying to find the coast, or maybe one of the great lakes, but we've had no luck, and trying to go straight through the woods is too dangerous. If we're careful though, there are a few animals we found that could be really useful."

Mare crouched next to Jason, folding her arms. Even if he said those things, wasn't it stupid to go inside a forest filled with things that could kill you? A little bit of worry started to well within her.

"What sort of animals are in there?" She looked at the trees, trying to make anything out. Other than the stupid horned frogs, there'd been nothing in the strange woods she'd woken up in. What made the difference?

Jason pulled out a torch from his bag and a small box. Opening it, he pulled out a little piece of bark. Mare frowned. Picking up a rock from the ground, the shaggy haired man scratched it hard against the rock, like it were a match. The tip of the wood caught fire and Jason quickly dropped it on the tip of the torch, which he had placed next to him on the ground.

"I have so many questions right now." Mare smiled uncertainly.

Jason gave a quiet chuckle. "There are many more things for you to learn, young padowan."

Mare laughed a little, and Jason stood up with the torch. "Well…I guess the best place to start is that most animals here don't like fire. The bark on the trees-underneath the charcoal, that is, is highly flammable. Every once in a while the bark on a tree just spontaneously catches fire for a little while. That's how the charcoal happens."

Mare blinked. Her list of strange things in this world was slowly starting to grow. Lavender grass, violent horned frogs, strange talking shadows, and now trees that spontaneously combusted…and didn't burn to the ground?

Jason saw her look and shrugged slowly. "It a low heat flame and doesn't last long?" He handed her the torch he was holding and pulled another one from his backpack, lighting it on hers. "So, there are a couple animals you need to keep an eye out for here. Some can be more aggressive than others."

The two of them started to walk again and as they got closer to the forest Mare noticed that there was a layer of black everywhere. Even the sand had been dyed a depressing gray color that seemed to reach out towards them. "My personal favorite is the electric shrew." Jason raised a finger for emphasis. "It's yellow and black and covered in spikes." His eyes were bright as he continued. "It almost looks like it's bee electrocuted, poor things. But if you touch it." Jason snapped his fingers suddenly. "You'll feel like you've been electrocuted. The poison on that thing is that bad."

Mare raised her brows, a slow smile forming on her face. He seemed to know a lot about this animal. "I take it that you have personal experience with this?"  
Suddenly clearing his throat, Jason gave her a cold look. "Of course I would never be stupid enough to touch a spikey yellow and black shrew—yeah, I did." He chuckled. "We had just discovered the forest and I was hungry."

She snorted, looking at him incredulously. "You wanted to eat it?!"

Jason scratched the back of his head. "I'm sure you understand that food can get scarce at times."

Mare's face immediately hardened. Geez, she'd been so rude. Of course, if they were running out of food he'd want to eat it. She'd eaten bug ridden moss to survive. "Yeah."

Jason patted her on the back. "Don't worry so much…" Jason trailed off as they finally reached the edge of the woods. People had obviously been through recently, there were a bunch footprints in the chalky gray ash that covered the ground.

Mare squinted at the trees. Wait...There was something wrong about this. What was it? There was something missing.

Mare blinked when it finally dawned on her. There was no underbrush. Away from the edges of the trees, there were clumps of lavender colored grass, like it had been in in the jungle Mare had woken, but other than that there was only gray charcoal-ash on the ground. No flowers, no bushes...and no moss. Nothing. It made her nervous.

There were bits of ash falling from the trees, giving the place an unreal, unearthly feeling. Mare swallowed slowly, feeling the dryness in her throat.  
Jason nodded at the footprints. "Looks like they're at the river then." He smiled, once again, at Mare. "They have the most interesting fish there."

Mare clicked her tongue softly. She was suddenly struck with the feeling that Jason was trying to continually reassure her, which made her feel like he was nervous. Was it the poisonous animals?

Jason looked at her expectantly and she nodded lightly in response. He'd said the fire would keep them safe, but that's didn't change the fact that if you had something poisonous bite you, you were dead...dead-dead-dead.

"So, there is this blue fish in the river. It sort of looks like it has wings, but not bee wings or anything like that. They're wavy." Jason waved his hands back and forth a little. Jason laughed a little, taking in her blank expression. He shrugged. "Anyways, in we go." He looped the fingers of his free hand underneath the straps of his backpack and started following the trail of footprints.

Keeping her torch directly in front of her awkwardly like a drippy ice cream cone, Mare followed him. Five minutes later Mare couldn't see the desert anymore. All around her was gray, and already a thin layer of ash had settled on her hair and clothes, making her skin feel dry. It had turned Jason's hair gray, and probably her own, if she could see it.

For the first time since she had met him, Jason had fallen silent, his eyes switching between scanning the treetops and the footprint on the ground that had grown more and more faded the farther they walked into the forest. The ash seemed to be falling thicker and thicker by the minute.

Ten more minutes passed in silence. "Jason." Mare gripped her torch a little tighter as she tried to gather the courage to be direct. "You made…coming here…sound like it was something we were doing for fun. Yet…nothing about this feels lighthearted. What's going on…really?"

Jason stopped walking, turning slightly back towards her. He took a deep breath and then sighed. "…Mare, is it?" Mare tensed, her heart dropping within her chest as she saw the emptiness in Jason's eyes. "I'm truly…sorry." Mare took a small step back, a strange hum running through her veins with her fear. What was he going to do?

"Fire doesn't keep the animals away." Jason looked at his torch and laughed. "At least, not fire this small."

Mare's face crumpled into confusion. "Why did you lie?"

Jason shrugged. "I had to convince you to come with me here, but I couldn't not warn you about all the poisonous animals."

Her brows went down even farther. "Get to the point." The words came out sharper than she'd meant.

Jason dropped his torch, snuffing it out with his foot. "Once you've been in this forest, if you try to leave the lizards try and kill you. They sleep just outside the forest, underneath the ash." Jason's face was hard. "It's the ash, I think."

Mare's lips dropped a little and she clenched her hands into fists. A quiet, angry flame light up inside her. She'd been right. She never should have set foot in here. She pressed her lips together, fighting the instinct to yell at Jason. There had to be a reason…right?

He folded his arms, scanning the trees again. "When we found you we'd already been running low on food. We'd made it out of here safely—once. So yesterday Bobby suggested that we go in again." Jason avoided Mare's gaze. "For your sake. Everyone but Max, Harry, Jade and I went in. They haven't come back since."

Mare glared at Jason coldly. "And what does that have to do with tricking me into coming here?"

Jason looked at her sharply. "We're here to find them. Bring them back! Jade went after them by herself when the rest of us wouldn't! It's because of you, so it's only right you help."

Mare clicked her tongue again, her teeth hurting a little as she clenched them quietly. "First rule of wilderness rescue, don't create more patients. I haven't eaten anything in days. Do you really think I'll be that helpful? Do you even have any sort of plan to find them? Help them?"

Mare paused. Wait. She hadn't eaten in days. She'd only had water. Yet…she felt fine.

Mare frowned, shaking her head. She pointed at the ground, ignoring Jason's scowl. "Look! The footprints are fading. What are you going to do when they disappear completely? You've potentially created two more fatalities in a world that has hardly any people left living!" Mare's voice finally rose to a shout and she almost dropped her torch in her anger, fumbling with it as it shifted in her hand.

Jason's eyes suddenly widened and he held up his hands. "Ma-Mare!"

Mare's head snapped towards him. "What!"

"Don't move."

Cold dread washed down Mare's spine and she stiffened. In the silence that followed she finally heard something. A quiet scratching behind her head.


End file.
